Shifter Bots PDF
Shifter Bots PDF
Shifter Bots PDF
Many thanks,
Jacob DC Ross
Class Weapons
Attacking, Defending Each class lists weapons that PCs of that
class are proficient in using. When using a
and Damage weapon not listed in their class, combat
tests have Disadvantage.
When a character attacks a creature they
must roll below their STR stat for a Melee
Attack or DEX for a Ranged Attack.
Likewise, when an enemy attacks, the
character must roll below
Enemy HD
its STR against a Melee Attack and DEX HD, or Hit Dice, are a measure of how
against a Ranged Attack to avoid taking powerful an enemy is. You roll 1d8 per HD
damage. The GM can determine the stat to determine an enemys HP (Hit Points).
required for the test. Attacking them until their HP is depleted
causes you to be victorious in combat. This
The damage an attack deals is based on system gives variable levels of health to
the characters class. To make a Melee similar enemies to keep things
Attack an opponent must be Close. Ranged unpredictable. To save time you can opt to
Attacks against Close opponents are instead assume that each enemy has HP
possible, but the attacker suffers a equal to 4x its HD.
Disadvantage. Enemies deal damage based
on their HD. Refer to the Enemy HD table.
Enemy HD Damage
Critical Attacks and HD Damage Example
Fumbles 1 1d4 Drone, police officer
If a player making an attack rolls a 1, they
double the result of the damage dice they 2 1d6 Soldier, weak bot
roll. If they roll a 20 when avoiding an
attack, they take double damage. Armor 3 2d4 Tech
Points are used normally.
4 1d10 Infiltrator
Character Creation
To create a character, begin by rolling up your stats. Roll 3D6 for each stat (in order for a
challenge, or create a pool of six results and assign them as you like).The stats are as follows:
Stats
Strength (STR): A measure of your characters ability to work and cause damage in combat.
Dexterity (DEX): Your characters athletic ability, nimbleness and skill with ranged weapons.
Constitution (CON): How well your character rolls with the punches and takes damage.
Intelligence (INT): The ability that allows you to see patterns and solve puzzles.
Wisdom (WIS): How much you know, and how well you notice things.
Charisma (CHA): That special something that helps you influence other people.
If you roll 15+ for a stat, roll the next one using 2D6+2 (if youre used to playing other OSR
games, dont worry about the slightly lower starting stats, they can skyrocket in this game).
Once youre done, you can switch two stats of your choice.
CLASSES
Every PC is a member of the Shifter Bot race. They are a mechanical being with shapeshifting
capabilities. A Shifter Bot spends their time among their enclave in their natural form, and time
spent in human society disguised, usually as a vehicle.
Shifter Bots each have their own functions, here called classes. A class determines the bots
capabilities and niche in a team. The four classes are Infiltrator, Officer, Tech and Warrior.
Infiltrator
Infiltrators do what their name suggests. They sneak where they arent supposed to go, gather
information or sabotage the enemy. These bots tend to be smaller than those of other classes.
Special Features
Advantage when attacking while undetected or unexpectedly, and while sneaking
You generate -1 Heat due to your form and can roll INT to reduce the Heat you generate from
any action by -1
Leveling Up
Roll twice for DEX or WIS, roll once for other stats.
Starting Gear
Weapons: Light melee weapon, light silent gun
Armor: Light plating
Typical Appearance: Dark colors or camouflage patterns, silent movements, spindly limbs,
short, thin metal tentacles
Officer
The Officer leads his squad to victory. His words can inspire the lowliest Warrior to great things.
Special Features
Advantage on CHA tests made to inspire or intimidate people, and to resist emotional and
mental manipulation..
Roll INT to grant an ally Advantage on a single roll a number of times per encounter equal to
half your Officer level.
Leveling Up
Roll twice for CHA or INT, roll once for other stats.
Starting Gear
Weapons: Medium melee weapon and shield
Armor: Light plating
Typical Appearance: Gold or silver trim, tall, crown or tiara, running lights
Warrior
The Warrior is a front-line fighter for the cause. They are adept at wrecking their opponents
Special Features
As part of their action you can make a number of attacks equal to half your Warrior level,
rounded up.
Leveling Up
Roll twice for STR and DEX, roll once for other stats.
Starting Gear
Weapons: Your choice of medium melee weapon and shield, two medium melee weapons, two
light guns, one large gun, a large melee weapon or one light gun and shield
Armor: Medium plating
Typical Appearance: Thick and stocky or muscular, Primary color with secondary trim,
chromed accents
Tech
Techs are responsible for maintaining their team. Without a good Tech the heat of battle can
quickly wear a squad down to nothing.
Special Features
Advantage on WIS and INT tests made to fix machines or deactivate traps.
Heal your target 1d6+Tech level HP whenever you succeed on a repair roll.
Roll INT to recharge a Usage Die to 6 a number of times per encounter equal to half your Tech
level.
Leveling Up
Roll twice for INT or WIS, roll once for other stats.
Starting Gear
Weapons: Light melee weapon or light gun
Armor: Light plating
Other: Two utility kits of your choice
Typical Appearance: White, medium build, utilitarian, neon accents
Forms
Shifter Bots have the amazing ability to become other machines. Each PC can select a single
alternate form at character creation. This ability raises some serious questions. Why do Shifter
Bots not stay in their natural form all the time? Why do some choose cars and others choose
planes?
The Shifter Bots are not the majority population of the planet. Though mighty, they dont have
the numbers to fend off the might of most nations, so staying in a vehicle form allows them to go
undetected and unthreatened by Earths military. The Shifter Bot factions are at war with one
another, so they maintain the masquerade from their enemies. Keeping a low profile reduces
Heat (see the Heat section for an explanation) to prevent discovery.
A plane is faster than a car and can go where land-based vehicles cant. On the other hand
planes are all tracked by radar and far more conspicuous than cars. They also cant go into
tunnels and confined spaces. A good force is balanced between land and air bots.
Form Tags
Form tags allow you to craft your alternate vehicle mode to your specifications. Make sure to
check with the GM before writing anything down.
Equipment
Each character begins the game with their listed equipment. They can choose another piece of
equipment after a successful mission (if the GM rules that the team recovered sufficient
resources to build the new equipment).
Equipment is set up into two categories: combat and utility. Utility items have a Usage Die that
begins (and maxes out at) d8. Each utility item is geared towards a specific non-combat task
(repairing shifter bots, fixing cars, hacking computers, etc.) and provides Advantage for that
task.
Combat gear is weapons and armor. Armor is usually bolted onto your frame and provides AP
based on its design. Shields add variable AP against all attacks.
Weapons are either melee or ranged. You can choose to have your melee weapons be swords,
spears, daggers, lances or whatever. Ranged weapons could be bows, pistols, rifles, shuriken
or even a slingshot if you like. The appearance doesnt have an impact on gameplay, only the
tags that you apply to them. All weapons have a based damage of 1d6. Ranged weapons
normally can fire up to Far Away.
You can upgrade your arsenal by scavenging components. A medium sword can get enhanced
with a plasma emitter after you construct it. The more powerful a weapon, the more time and
resources it takes to make and upgrade. Some upgrades also increase the maximum Usage
Die, but you should be careful with allowing this.
Light Weapon: Does 1d4 damage, counts as half an item for encumbrance purposes.
Medium Weapon: Does 1d6 damage, all weapons without Light or Heavy tags are Medium.
Heavy Weapon: Does 1d+2 damage and adds +2 to your attack roll.
Extendable: As Melee Weapon but can attack Nearby as well as Close distances.
Long Range: As Ranged Weapon but can now shoot up to Distant range.
Melee Weapon: Attacks at Close distance.
Ranged Weapon: Attacks at up to Far Away distance.
Plasma Weapon: Makes attacks through normal armor. Rechargeable Usage Die d6.
Ripper Weapon: Make a CON save when attacked by a Ripper Weapon to avoid a +2 penalty
on all physical rolls. Make a STR roll when attacking to give you and all allies a -2 bonus to all
rolls made to avoid attacks from your target.
Silent Weapon: Can attack without making noise.
Light Shield: 1AP against all attacks, counts as half an item for encumbrance. Usage Die d8.
Medium Shield: 2AP against all attacks. Usage Die d10.
Heavy Shield: 2AP against all attacks, can bash to add +1 damage with melee weapons,
counts as 2 items for encumbrance. Usage Die D12.
Energy Shield: AP applies to Plasma Weapons. Usage Die d6.
Note that shields only lose AP when their Usage Die finally depletes.
Usage Die
Any item listed in the equipment section that has a Usage die is a consumable, limited item, or
one powered by a rechargeable reactor. When you use a consumable, roll a Usage Die in the
next Minute. If the roll is 1- 2 then the usage die is downgraded to the next lower die in the
following chain:
Encumbrance
A character can carry a number of items equal to their STR with no issues. Carrying over this
amount means they are encumbered and all attribute tests have Disadvantage. They can also
only ever move to somewhere Nearby. A character simply cannot carry more than double their
STR.
Setting
NOTE: THIS SECTION IS FOR GMS ONLY! STOP READING IF YOURE A PLAYER!
A note to GMs. This release has a very sparse detailing of the setting. Thats because I dont
want to impose on your creativity with my ideas. I am developing further setting material, but
feel free to create whatever you want!
The world of Shifter Bots is much like our own, only populated with fantastic new life forms and
dangers. In the game you play, not a human adventurer, but a Shifter Bot, a mechanical being
of unimaginable complexity.
Shifter Bots originate from another world, called Pangeara. They have no context as to where it
is in relation to the here and now, as a great cataclysm warped many members of their
civilization to Earth. The survivors are stranded here, though they can occasionally send and
receive messages with the small remnant on Pangeara. On even rarer occasions they can warp
supplies and reinforcements through (usually no more than a single Shifter Bot).
The truth is that the Shifter Bots hail from a far future version of our Earth. They were made by
hyper-advanced computers that had long since displaced humanity. The Shifter Bot civilization
lasted for untold millions of years before it fell to infighting. The trigger of the Tav Device, the
deadliest weapon ever conceived, caused most of the bots on Pangeara to disintegrate within
seconds. Most of the survivors were hurled into a time warp and ended up on Earth.
Factions
There are several groups that are vying for dominance. Listed below are a few of them.
Camtrons
The Camtrons are a more or less peaceful faction that want to start a new life on Earth. Many of
them were guardsmen in the old Pangeara Militia. Their leader, Praetoria, wishes to see her
people come to an understanding with humans.
Cogdroids
The Cogdroids are a violent individualist faction who defy all authority, save that of their leader
Mekanikhan. To these passionate robots humanity is a stain upon the universe, and they plan to
enslave them after subjugating the Camtrons. Many of them come from the former rebel worker
caste.
Hive
The Hive rejects individuality in pursuit of a single unified mind. Their goal is the blending of all
thought into a single continuum. Theyre guided by the All-Queen AI and often create small
hives of covert human cyborgs. The Hive currently only links up completely when theyre in their
hidden base to avoid detection and disruption.
Summoners
A Summoner cares nothing for his own life, nor for such concepts as love, freedom or strength.
There is only Titanitron. There will only ever be Titanitron. So far nobody seems to know what
this mantra means, but few want to find out.
DESIGNATION OF PRODUCT IDENTITY
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are product identity.
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Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
System Reference Document. Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors
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COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.;
Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins,
David Noonan,
Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt,
based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
The Black Hack, Copyright 2016 Gold Piece Publications, Author: David Black
Kaigaku RPG, Copyright 2016 Thunderegg Productions, Author: Jacob DC Ross